I am no doctor, and I think I sit no further out on the limb that anyone else here when I say that a girl of such artistic integrity probably fainted due to the excessive weight of grotesque sponsorship and gaudily named concerts. ('Lotte Duty Free Family Concert'??) I don't know.

I do know that I am am waiting for the day when, during concerts, a singer will introduce their next tune with: “This next song is brought to you by Microsoft.”

A commentor on YouTube nailed it, if doing so unknowingly, when writing, "a company should protect their artist." Replace 'artist' with 'product' and there you have it. Get well soon, Krystal.

Lost in Korea

>In other music news, this past weekend saw Brooklyn hip hop artists, Das Racist here in Busan. From what I heard, the show was good. After said show there was a bit of drinking going on down in Kyungsung and rapper Victor Vasquez probably should have fainted.

Apparently, in the wee hours, he neglected to check out of his hotel, boarded the KTX and headed to Seoul. At some point he realized he had left all of his belongings (including passport) back here in Busan in his hotel room.

Super Color Super, who brought Das Racist to Korea for two shows, sent out this amusing email on Facebook Saturday:
_______________________________________________________________________
"Thanks for coming out to our show last night, we hope you all had a great time.

Unfortunately, during the party, Victor Vazquez got lost and we were unable to locate him. If you know/have any information about his whereabouts or what he was doing or where you last saw him, please either message back to us or text Rhylon

We need to find Victor before the Seoul show starts so it's urgent. Text if you can!!"
_______________________________________________________________________

Fortunately for fans, he managed to just make it to the Seoul gig on Saturday.

Well, now we have a better grasp on why New York Magazine called them "The Smartest Dumb Guys in the Room."

Whip it Bad

>Ahh, the Middle East, such a rich, wonderful history and an often pathetic present. This out of the UAE: A Filipina woman and her Bangladeshi boyfriend were caught getting busy with it at her place and were both sentenced to 100 lashes. According to Sharia law, unmarried sex is a big no-no, as if you didn’t already know know that.

Both admitted to their treacherous unlawful act and were handed the harsh punishment because they are Muslim. That’s as good a reason as any right? God is love.

And in sunny Saudi Arabia an Indonesian woman working as a maid for a Saudi family had her lips cut off with a pair of scissors by the father of the family she was working for. The woman said that she was also regularly beaten by the mother and the daughter. Nice folks. The link is here, but be prepared for some graphic imagery.

On a side note, the above image is taken from MurphyWhips.com. They even have tips on how to make it "crack." Yee-hah!

Innovation in Dissident Disposal

>The Chinese, while not busy defending North Korean actions in their state controlled media, have developed the first artificial black hole. According to the science savvy it can be useful in creating solar cells for producing cheap energy. I am not exactly sure how that works, but I firmly believe they created the black hole as a quick and easy way to deal with those pesky human right activists.

Gold Medal for Gawking

The Chinese media had a field day (pun intended) with this shot

>Congrats to the South Korean baseball team for taking the gold in the Asia Games. The media has been calling them “history’s most powerful lineup.” I won’t even bother to comment on how ludicrous that statement is, but cheers to the boys in blue for a great job and to the Koreans overall who, while getting smoked by the Chinese (along with everyone else), managed to outperform their neighborhood rival, Japan.

That said, the PR department needs to tell the baseball players that the cameras are ALWAYS on them. This photo is going to get some guys in trouble with their girlfriends back home fo sho'.

North Korean Allies?

You have probably had your fill with North Korean news so, I will not delve further into it, but feel safe in knowing that Sarah Palin said in a radio interview last week that "the United States needs to stand with our North Korean allies."

Her defenders are calling it a simple mistake, but how could an enemy so thoroughly ingrained in American political rhetoric (the North Koreans not Palin) be so easily misspoken about by anyone with a semblance of brains? The answer is "SARAH PALIN IS NOT QUALIFIED TO BE PRESIDENT!" I like a good non-sequitur as much as the next idiot. As the next idiot. As the next…

Ship Industry Soon Sinking to Second Place

>According to London-based Clarkson Research, South Korea, the number one ship building nation in the world, is set to be overtaken by the Chinese, after the Koreans took the title from Japan in 2003.

The iceberg that is China is doing it soon they say. "In light of the current pace, China is sure to overtake South Korea and emerge as the world's largest shipbuilding country this year," an industry source said.

I got this from the Korea times, so I am not sure when they got that quote –this year is pretty close to over. As is this week in review.